Garmin targets the high-end watch market with a new Marq line of premium smartwatches priced between $1,500 and $2,500
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
Garmin built its wearable business on mid-priced sport devices — the $299 Vivoactive 3 with Garmin Pay was the template two years ago — so the Marq line is a deliberate jump into territory no smartwatch maker had claimed. At $1,500–$2,500, Garmin is pricing these as watches first and computers second, going after buyers who would otherwise consider traditional luxury timepieces.
The bet matters because it predates the competitive pressure that came later: Apple's Watch Ultra arrived only in 2022 as a direct challenge to Garmin's grip on premium active wearables, and by 2025 Garmin itself had stretched its own ladder to a $799 Venu X1 and a $1,200+ Fenix 8 Pro with a $2,000 microLED variant. Marq is where that climb started.
First-order effects
- Garmin now sells four-figure smartwatches aimed at the traditional watch buyer, not just athletes upgrading trackers — a customer segment where brand heritage and materials carry the purchase decision.
- At this price band Garmin faces no smartwatch competition in 2019; Apple's lineup sits far below, leaving Marq to compete against mechanical and luxury watches instead.
Second-order effects
- Marq establishes the premium tier that Apple later attacks head-on with the Watch Ultra, forcing Garmin to defend a segment it created rather than just dominate it.
- A four-figure halo line gives Garmin pricing room across the rest of the portfolio, letting models like the Venu X1 and Fenix 8 Pro climb toward $800–$2,000 without looking like outliers.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, wearables split into two markets: an app-driven mass tier competing on ecosystem, and a materials-and-battery tier where Garmin's watchmaker positioning holds — with Apple's Ultra entry proving the premium tier is worth contesting.
- Sustained four-figure pricing shifts Garmin's identity from fitness-gadget vendor to sports-luxury brand, a structural moat that app ecosystems alone cannot easily replicate.
The trend: Smartwatches are stratifying into a luxury tier priced like traditional watches, with Garmin's Marq line marking the start of a premium ladder that Apple's Ultra later forced open to real competition.